Chapter 1420: Chapter 1419: Writing History
Powerful, fierce, comprehensive, ultimate plan, almost perfect.
This is the best summary of Lamar Jackson’s 2019 season, emerging with staggering statistics. As the regular season concluded, professionals exclaimed in unison:
“Regular Season MVP”!
Impatiently bestowing this title upon Jackson.
Fans on social media were even more fervent, sparing no words of praise, worshipping Jackson with the highest honor, sending him to the shrine.
Without a doubt, this was a season where Jackson shattered everyone’s imagination, just like when Michael Vick burst onto the scene in the 2006 season——
Back then, it was “A quarterback can actually do this”, and now it’s “The ultimate quarterback actually exists”.
The feeling, just like “Terminator 2”, when people thought the T800 was shocking enough, the T1000 made a dazzling debut, unstoppable.
From every aspect, the 2019 regular season MVP is Jackson. Not to mention Gilmore, Mahomes, and Wilson, even McCaffrey and Thomas were born at the wrong time. Their career-best performances happened to encounter Jackson in Super Saiyan mode, extinguishing all suspense for the entire season. Gilmore’s complaints and protests couldn’t garner more support.
But, is it really so?
Passing for 3,000 yards, rushing for 1,000 yards, a completion rate of 66.08%, an average rush advancement of 6.85 yards, with a total of 43 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
From any angle, this is a perfect report card, a 100% MVP-worthy regular season.
Not only for the 2019 season, but even in the history of time, it qualifies to compete for “the best,” comparable to Li Wei’s 2017 season.
Perhaps the only flaw was the playoff exit, with the Baltimore Ravens and Jackson unexpectedly crashing out, which might affect the voting. However, the discussion now concerns the regular season MVP, unrelated to the playoffs, with the focus purely on regular-season performances.
So, “Jackson and the regular season MVP”, is it really a foregone conclusion…?
A question mark needs to be added here.
Pulling the perspective back slightly, because in the 2019 season, Jackson wasn’t the only player making history and creating miracles. Gilmore’s unfortunate timing is comparable to a Greek tragedy, to the point where even Prometheus would shed a tear of sympathy.
Shift the focus away from the quarterback constantly in the spotlight, and turn attention to other notable players in the Offensive group. This season, Carolina Panthers running back McCaffrey completed a dual 1,000-yard season in rushing and receiving, igniting the League and bringing fans to their knees.
However, in fact, this is not the first, nor even the second time.
In 1985, San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig, rushed for 1,050 yards and received for 1,016 yards.
In 1999, St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk, rushed for 1,381 yards and received for 1,048 yards.
In other words, even before McCaffrey, there were two running backs who accomplished such a feat, and Faulk’s total stats were even superior.
Of course, it’s not to say McCaffrey wasn’t outstanding, but such performances aren’t unprecedented.
Switching to another perspective, in NFL history, a 1,000-yard season for a running back is a benchmark, signifying an excellent season. A 2,000-yard season is the threshold for the elite club.
Li Wei completed 1,888 yards in the 2017 season, a phenomenal season that almost made the cut for the benchmark. McCaffrey delivered an extraordinary performance this season, with 2,393 total rushing and receiving yards, entering historical ranks in a different manner, leaving his mark.
In fact, so far, there have been a total of seven running backs in the NFL who have achieved such a feat, with over 2,000 total yards in a season.
OJ Simpson, 1973, Buffalo Bills.
Eric Dickson, 1984, Los Angeles Rams.
Barry Sanders, 1997, Detroit Lions.
Terrell Davis, 1998, Denver Broncos.
Jamal Lewis, 2003, Baltimore Ravens.
Chris Johnson, 2009, Tennessee Titans.
Adrian Peterson, 2012, Minnesota Vikings.
The above, a total of seven.
As you can see, regardless of the era of rushing dominance or the modern West Coast offense boom post-millennium, the single-season 2,000-yard rushing record remains an unattainable challenge.
Yet, every now and then, a legendary running back emerges with mind-blowing performances creating miracles. Among them, OJ Simpson’s historic feat was particularly astonishing because the 1973 regular season only had fourteen games, while subsequent running backs achieved it within sixteen games, yet Simpson still matched them with two fewer games.
Unbelievable!
Precisely because of this, Peterson’s phenomenal 2012 performance earned him the regular season MVP. That year, he rushed for 2,097 yards, just eight yards short of Dickson’s 1984 single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, though he regrettably fell short of breaking the record.
In other words, McCaffrey indeed completed an astonishing season, but whether it’s his dual 1,000-yard performance in rushing and receiving or breaking 2,000 yards total, placed within the historical river, it still slightly pales in comparison.
It’s not that it’s not impressive, nor that it’s not outstanding, but compared to Jackson’s meteoric rise, people’s eyes naturally gravitate toward the quarterback.
This is the reality, in an era ruled by passing, the quarterback still stands under the spotlight, while running backs need to put forth 120% or even 200% effort to compare.
Moreover, Lamar Jackson’s 2019 season was indeed perfect.
But what if someone can break such a pattern?
Such as, this kind of 2019 season——
Rushing for 2,050 yards, receiving for 1,073 yards, with 23 rushing touchdowns and 11 receiving touchdowns.
Among these, the rushing yardage makes history, ranking fifth all-time; receiving yardage sets a new historical mark, breaking a twenty-year-old record; rushing touchdowns rank fourth all-time, with the current highest record being 28 set by legendary running back Tomlinson in the 2006 season; receiving touchdowns set a new history, breaking an eighteen-year-old record.
Records, records, and more records, creating records everywhere, rewriting history comprehensively.
Of course, if we combine both rushing and receiving stats, then without a doubt, this is a legendary record that overturns all NFL history.
Not just merely records, it can totally be called “legendary”!
Furthermore, one very, very crucial point is elite stats, not just quantity but quality as well.
An average of 6.93 yards per rush, and an average of 11.9 yards per reception.
Additionally, throughout the entire season, only one fumble and no turnovers.
Standalone statistics, easily surpassing McCaffrey as a running back and Thomas as a wide receiver, and even making Jackson, the occasional running back, pale in comparison.
Complete dominance!
Thoroughly surpassing.
Even placed in the history of the League, such stats undoubtedly rank at the top, even considered a season that utterly changes stereotypes.
Does such a player qualify to compete with Jackson for the regular season MVP?